Whereas

There’s a syntactical quirk I’ve been noticing lately, particularly in journals like Geophysical Research Letters where the length limit can produce some rather strained syntax, but in other places too:

Although it appears to be technically correct, this idiom makes me want to crawl out of my eyeballs and stuff an unabridged dictionary in the molt skin. Medial whereas-ing is fine, but initial whereas belongs in a list of reasons for a pompous resolution, and only in a list of reasons for a pompous resolution. Any other use should be banned, and banned NOOOW!!